ramblings of an entrepreneurial madman

But for good reason! I’ve been working both jobs now since November 1st so I’m constantly going back and forth between my two computers. With the new business we are making some progress and it looks like we should close our first deal sometime next week. It has taken much longer then we anticipated and we are having some lead and marketing issues, however we just need to get that first deal on the books and I think they’ll start to fall more frequently. We tried a direct mail marketing postcard which yielded no results, but we’ve been using 1 other method which has been keeping us afloat. The problem is that there is a limited amount of leads so we definitely need to get a few more reliable sources.

The bottom line is that things are going well and I’m super excited for when we close that first deal because it will show that it is possible and this dream is becoming realized. Like I mentioned above, I think that will happen sometime this week.

Our goal was to have 30-50 deals on the books before the end of the year and the way things are going now I’m not sure if that’s possible. I think 20 is a more realistic number to shoot for and even that will be difficult simply because we need to get our marketing figured out and because it’s the holiday season. If we can get 3-5 days before the end of November, and an additional 10-15 before the end of December, I’ll be happy with that.

My regular job has been extremely slow and it’s been a relatively smooth transition starting this company. Everyday I seem to spend more and more time with the new company and less and less with my current employer. The way things are going now I’m not sure when I’ll quit but juggling both jobs hasn’t been much of a problem so it’s nice to know that I should be able to earn a living while I’m waiting for our own company to take off. I cannot tell you how important this is! In the past I’d just jump in with both feet and would typically have living expenses saved for 6 months to a year. The problem with that is that business always takes longer then you expect for it to take off and I’d end up being stressed out in a matter of months because my savings would be getting low and my business wouldn’t be producing revenue yet.

For any aspiring entrepreneur’s out there I’d say to keep this in mind when starting a company because it helps so much! Not having to worry about bills and living expenses keeps you much more positive during the start-up phase and relieves a lot of pressure! This, in turn, will most likely make you more successful because you aren’t as desperate to close that first deal and you don’t come across that way to potential clients!

This is obviously more difficult if you have a wife and kids to support, but if you are single it shouldn’t be hard to do both. Keep your living expenses as low as possible and work a regular job. Then during your free time schedule blocks that you will work on the new gig. As the new company grows those time blocks will slowly increase while you start to cut back your regular job hours. Before you know it, you will be 100% self-employed.

Anyways, it’s sunday morning and I’m about to leave for the gym. It’s overcast today in Arizona and I love this weather because it reminds me of Connecticut where i grew up. There will definitely be a post made after we close our first deal so I’d expect that later this week!

My home office is starting to look nice! I received my new computer from Dell yesterday and set this bad boy up. The thing is a beast and I’m glad I bought it. Since it’s financed I can buy myself some time until our business starts generating some income which is nice. I also rearranged my desk so now I have two separate work stations verses 1 big one. I like this setup much more because it opens up my room, gives me a lot more space and it keeps my current employer separate from my own company.

Here’s a picture of my old setup, complete with lazy cat and all!

As you can see it’s cluttered with shit but that’s because I actually work my ass off and am quite busy throughout the day. The desk isn’t just there to look pretty, I spend my entire day sitting right there. Anyways, I broke down that desk into two smaller desks and placed them at opposite ends of my room so I have two separate work stations now.

I also upgraded my internet connection to the fastest speed that’s currently available and that should be up and running on Monday. We are still waiting on a few final things from our business partner and we should be ready to start selling. I’m fired up and ready to close that first deal; then from there, the sky’s the limit!

Things have been getting pretty bad with my current employer anyways so its perfect timing that we break free. I just hope I can continue earning a living with them until the new gig takes off. It’s been extremely slow and leads are practically nonexistent. Also, management just doesn’t seem to give a fuck anymore. The customer service is a damn joke and nothing gets done. I’m fed up dealing with their bullshit and am just trying to close deals so I get paid. As of right now I’m on pace for 10-12 deals this month. It would be nice if I hit 12 because I would qualify for bonus and that’s another $1,000.00 in my pocket but since leads have been so slow I don’t know where these deals will come from. We’ll see what happens next week.

Right now its saturday night and I’m sitting here typing next to my open screen door. Enjoying a nice breeze and thinking about how much better my life will become when my business takes off. I’m so fucking confident it’s not even funny.

So tomorrow I’m just going to relax and watch football. I’ll go to the gym earlier in the morning and take it easy the rest of the day. It would be nice if we could start next week but I don’t think that’s going to happen. Right now it’s looking like November 1st will be our official launch date.

Well things are progressing nicely midway through the month so I have no complaints. It’s looking like I’ll hit goal again with my current employer, which is good because it will keep my job secure, and we have 1 more meeting scheduled before we will start selling under our own business. Even if I don’t hit goal, I’m sure I’ll be close enough to it, that my employer won’t throw me under the chopping block again. I really proved a lot to them last month and definitely bought myself some credibility. The key thing to keep in mind is that I need to be able to quit when I’m ready and not a second sooner. I don’t want to quit and just be wondering when the cash will start to flow again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m 100% confident in this business venture we are launching. However, I know from experience that things never take off as quickly as you expect them to, so it’s best to play it safe until we start closing deals.

I’m also doing a good job of staying on budget and refraining from going out and wasting money, although I must admit it’s getting harder and harder. Now that I have some cash saved, it’s easier for me to go out for a drink or two because I can afford it. Another problem is that I’m cooped up in my apartment all day and just itching to get out of here once my work day is done so it’s hard to just remind myself; “not yet, your time will come,” and stay at home with a red box movie. I’m addicted to red box like Whitney Houston is addicted to crack.

I still don’t have enough saved yet, and to be honest, I don’t know if I ever will. I would like a minimum of 6-12 months worth of expenses saved before I 100% throw in the towel with my current employer, so we shall see.

I do have a large purchase that I have to make and I’m not to thrilled about it. I need a new computer for this new gig and I do want something that’s top of the line. I’m not going to waste my money on another computer that will be obsolete in a year or two like this one, so if I buy one I’m going to go all out. The problem is that this obviously costs money, and although I can afford it, that money is better off being saved incase something happens with my current job.

I honestly don’t have much of a choice though. All of our phones go through our internet connection with work and my current job already has 1 phone stealing bandwidth. Add another phone to that along with all of the software I’m going to need and there is no way this computer can handle the load. I’m going to see about financing it and buying myself some time that way. I just need time right now.

Aside from all that, not much else going on. Final “pre-launch” meeting is on Tuesday so I’m fired up! This week we have to get some things sorted out with our marketing so we can hit the ground running when we are ready to sell. I’m excited and looking forward to making millions. Its been my obsession/goal for the better part of the last 6 years so I’m ready!

Notice how I wrote “when” and not “if” because I truly believe it will happen and it’s actually beginning to happen now. We just wrapped up another meeting with our new business partner and we are ironing out the last few wrinkles before we start selling; then it’s on!

Every once in a while I get in these moods where I reflect back and it gets hard to contain my emotions. The weather is finally starting to cool off here in Arizona after a brutal summer and we are getting some rain. When it rains it tends to make me think about my life in general; it’s kind of strange.

I’m really beginning to wonder that once I get to the point where I’m financially well off, will it be such a huge disappointment? I’ve placed so much time, energy, stress and importance on achieving financial wealth that I can’t help but think that I’ve raised my expectations so high that there is no way in hell they will ever be met.

Let’s say I’m filthy fucking rich as of this very second. I have the nice house, the cars, the clothes, the jewelery and all the other shit. Then what? What the fuck do I do from that point?

I’ve always stressed that the material possessions are just 1 aspect of why I want to be wealthy and they are by far the least important. The thing that keeps me motivated and inspired is the thought of the freedom that wealth brings. The thought of NEVER having to worry about another bill or stress about another expense for the rest of my life. That’s what I’m after…

So lets say I get there, then what is left? This has been my goal/dream since I graduated college. I want to make my family and friends proud and I want them to be able to say, “you know what, I knew you were going to do it,” and MEAN THAT SHIT. Once I’m there, I’m not sure what’s going to fuel my fire…

I guess that’s what life is all about. Jumping forward with two feet into the unknown and letting whatever happens, happen.

I know that it’s not all about the money anyways. That’s just what my goal is for the time being. I will set a new goal after this one is hit, and I will keep setting goals and keep hitting them.

I really am looking forward to traveling and enjoying some of the finer things in life. I’m still driving the same car from highschool and the fucking thing is dying a slow death.

Wow I suck at blogging and lately I just haven’t been inspired to write. When I do write something it’s forced and doesn’t feel organic at all and I think when I do that the writing suffers. This is only my second post for the entire month of September which is awful, but I’m happy to say that I got a lot of good shit going on in my life and I’ve been too busy or too tired to blog.

First off, I deleted my Facebook page. I’m starting this company and our goal is to launch October 1st, but I think realistically we won’t be ready until a week or two into October and I know it’s going to be a huge success. I know this, because both me and my business partner are currently bringing in a shitload of business for the company that we work for now, and if we can do it for them, we can do it for us – no question. At this point we are just getting some final things worked out and everything will be good to go. As of now the split is as follows:

Me: 33.3%

Business Partner: 33.3%

Attorney: 33.3%

We are all in this together and I’m cool with that. It’s time that I make myself millions because enough is enough with all of the bullshit I’ve been dealing with the last few years. My goal was to make my first million while I was in my 20’s. I’m going to be turning 30 this upcoming February, so I may be a bit late, but if I am on my way towards my goal I don’t think I’ll bitch and complain much. 🙂

I decided to delete my Facebook page. To be honest I wasn’t spending that much time on there but it got to the point where I started thinking to myself, “this is fucking stupid. People post the dumbest shit on here.”

Not to mention that everyone and their fucking mom is on Facebook now and I absolutely HATE doing what everyone else is doing.

Combine that with the launch of my company and I just decided to cancel my account. I don’t want clients or customers looking me up on there, and to me, millions of dollars is a hell of a lot more important then Facebook status updates.

On another note, I completely killed this month and blew production out of the water. I was put on formal notice that I had to hit a number of deals this month or my ass was gone and I fucking surpassed that shit and kept on trucking. I’m so proud of myself for being able to step up to the plate when the pressure was on and knock one out of the park. October is a new month and I’ll be starting at zero again like everyone else, however at least I know I have a job for another 30 days, and the more income I can earn and save the better. My goal is to have 10k+ in my account before I quit and I think I’ll be alright. Ideally 15k-20k would be nice.

So here’s what’s going to happen with the new company. We will start selling for it on the side. Once packages start to come in consistently, I’m going to quit with my current employer and go 100% full force. This may only take 2 weeks, or it may take 2 months, I’m not sure; but the issue with my current employer is that I wanted to quit when I was ready and not a moment sooner than that. If they fired me, I know it would have created some financial problems that I’m not ready to deal with right now.

I have to make sure I can pay my bills and put food on the table; PERIOD.

Life is good, work is good, and the business looks promising. Another meeting with the attorney tomorrow(Friday) and hopefully that meeting is a final;

“Ok we need to do this, this and this, and we are ready to go!” type meeting…

Lastly, I think after all of these years I’ve finally been able to figure out what I love to do and what really gets me motivated and inspired to work. It’s starting a business. The business could deal with anything; it doesn’t matter, but to me it’s the act of starting that business and building it, watching it grow and develop and ultimately become successful. That’s what I love to do. I’m seriously an entrepreneur in my heart and in my soul, there is no other way to describe it.

I remember when I was just a corporate bitch sitting in a cube working my ass off. I remember seeing suits walking into conference rooms and sitting down for hours at a time discussing different aspects of business and I would always think, “hmm, I wonder what they are talking about? Corporate buy out? Expansion? Promotions? Firings?” It always bothered me that I was on the outside of the glass looking in.

Now that I’m one of those guys in those meetings, discussing our organization and where it’s heading and what it can become, I’m truly happy. I like being a guy on the “inside,” a player who is part of the game and making moves; not some expendable pawn that ultimately doesn’t mean a damn thing.

That’s what makes me tick. Being a King or Queen in life’s game of chess, not a fucking pawn.

A lot of good shit has been going down and it’s definately shit that’s worth writing about. I just haven’t been inspired to write lately. I don’t know what my deal is, but sometimes you get so caught up with other aspects of what’s going on that blogging isn’t on the top of your priority list.

To summarize, I’m starting my own company with my business partner, and we partner up with an attorney. We’ve met with him twice already and have already negotiated our split. We are all equal partners and the goal is to start selling for our company in October. Obviously this is very exciting news, however there is one downside.

August was an absolute trainwreck with my current employer and I barely produced any business. They basically told me this month I need to hit my numbers or I’m fucking done. They gave me a mark to hit by mid month, which I’ve already hit, but I still need to finish with 12 deals before the end of September or I’m out of a job. I really need to keep this job until I’m ready to leave so I do not like being in this position. I’m saving every dollar I can while I can so I have some living expenses if shit hits the fan, but I’m praying it doesn’t. Starting the new company is exciting stuff, but I know we won’t see money right away, and I need to have a good amount saved before I can fully commit. If I could get 10k in the bank that would be great, but that isn’t going to happen if I get fired at the end of September.

Things have been stressful and exciting for those reasons and with the way things are progressing, I just want to hold onto my job until October – November if possible. I think at that point I’ll be ready to quit on my own.

Anyways, we have another follow up meeting with the attorney this upcomming Thursday and things are moving forward in a timely fashion. We are definately on to something and I always felt as though; “damn this is a good idea and we can make a lot of money,” but once we sat down with the attorney for the first time and explained to him what we wanted to do, I KNEW we were on to something. He immediately said; “I’m interested, lets do this.”

Me and my business partner knew it was a good idea, but we’ve had other ideas in the past that we felt were good and never amounted to anything. The fact that a complete stranger/third party was instantly turned on by what we are doing definately gave me more confidence.

Goals are updated and I’ll try to do better with blog posts but its been hard. Peace.

Like this:

I wonder why I even bother writing goals every month because what ultimately ends up happening is we change these goals and since they are different, they never get hit. Here’s the problem:

After several long discussions, and our observations on our current employers incompetence, we’ve decided there is no way in hell we will ever be able to make the money we are hoping to make by utilizing them. The bottom line is that they are completely unreliable and have no idea how to run things. We are going to continue working for them until our own thing gets going, but we aren’t going to send them our business as initially planned.

I came up with an idea on how we can do what they are doing, but with a slightly different twist, and we can break free and do it on our own. Big surprise huh? I think this is the main difference between someone whom is used to being an employee and someone whom considers themself an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur simply thinks differently. Anytime I’ve ever worked for someone else I immediately begin thinking about the operation as a whole; “how are they generating sales, where are their leads coming from, what’s their overhead, how are they able to perform the service they offer, etc…”

I don’t feel that is something that is taught, I think that’s something you just have instinctively as an entrepreneur. Anyways, that’s a topic for another day.

So naturally I began thinking like this in terms of our current employer and came up with a way that we could break free and just do our own thing without having to rely on them and that’s what we’ve been working on since the beginning of the month. Right now we are talking to some law firms about somethings. Once we get that squared away we just have a few other steps to take care of before we can start selling.

We are definitely in the right market and there is a ton of money to be made so we are anxious to get going with this because the window of opportunity won’t be open forever. My business partner is 100% on board as well.

I’ll keep everyone updated; just know that some exciting stuff is about to happen.